Trekkies rejoice (or beware): The rumors are getting stronger that New York-based blog network Gawker Media will be launching a science fiction themed title in the near future, and we're hearing that Wired blogger and freelance writer Annalee Newitz has been chosen for the top post at the new blog. The original rumor, as reported last week by the Huffington Post hinted that Gawker Media had nabbed a writer for its new, yet-to-be-named blog from Wired; a source confirmed to CNET News.com that the title will indeed be launching soon and that an editor has been hired.
A separate person familiar with the hire told us that the editor in question is longtime tech writer Newitz, currently a freelancer at the Wired.com Table of Malcontents geek-subculture blog. Newitz is also a columnist for AlterNet and runs her own blog, Techsploitation.
Annalee Newitz, Gawker's latest scoop?
(Credit: techsploitation.com)Additionally, the Wired blog that Newitz has been writing for will soon be no more. On Monday, Table of Malcontents confirmed "dark murmurs" that it would be shutting down on June 30. Editor John Brownlee attempted to reassure readers by saying that he and contributor Eliza Gauger would be "very likely to have at least one new blog for you to visit come June 30th" and that fellow contributors Newitz and Lisa Katayama would continue to blog for Wired's "Underwire" pop-culture blog.
Wired News is discontinuing several blogs, including iTable of Malcontents and another called Listening Post. Underwire, a digital music and media blog, will absorb most of the writers who were working on the closed blogs in an effort to consolidate resources. The site will now have 12 blogs, down from 16 in February.
"Fewer titles with more writers is the new strategy," said Wired News Editor Evan Hansen.
There have been personnel connections between Table of Malcontents and Gawker Media blogs in the past. Brownlee contributed to Gawker Media's Consumerist blog before leaving in October 2006 to helm the then-new Table of Malcontents. Contributor Lisa Katayama also has contributed in the past to Gawker's Gizmodo title as a freelancer.
The New York-based blog network Gawker Media--parent company of blogs like Wonkette, Valleywag, and Defamer--is better known for salacious gossip and snarky social commentary than geek fandom (even its gadget blog Gizmodo and gaming hub Kotaku aren't the nerdiest titles in their genres). But the company, according to rumors overheard by the Huffington Post on Tuesday, may be very close to launching a science fiction blog.
The Huffington Post suggested that Gawker Media may have nabbed (or be in the process of nabbing) a Wired writer to helm the new blog, but it's unclear whether this means a staffer for Wired magazine or for its Wired.com blog network. From what the rumor suggested, the shadowy editor in question is pretty highly sought-after and is being offered a salary on the higher end of the company's offerings.
It's hard to imagine a Gawker Media blog handling the likes of Boba Fett and Mr. Spock without relentless mockery, but hey, maybe they can make it work. Or maybe that's the point.
Gawker Media, which was founded in 2002 and currently operates 14 standalone blogs, launched a womens-focused blog, Jezebel, several weeks ago.
Anti-video game advocate Jack Thompson has sued Gawker Media, the parent company of gaming blog Kotaku, according to GamePolitics. The reason for the suit, which was filed in a federal court in the Southern District of Florida, was a number of reader comments on recent Kotaku posts that Thompson deemed "threatening" and which he claimed Kotaku and Gawker Media declined to remove from the site.
Thompson, a Miami-based attorney, has been a high-profile crusader against video games and their alleged negative influence on children for some time now, but gained new notoriety in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings earlier this month for being quick to point fingers at gaming as a root cause of the massacre. He alleged in the court complaint that the commentary from Kotaku readers began to emerge "within mere minutes" of an appearance he made on the Fox News Channel on the day of the shootings, as the result of a post by editor Brian Crecente that criticized Thompson's opinion.
To clarify, this is not actually a new lawsuit. Thompson had filed a suit against the Florida bar in March, citing a variety of forms of "aggressive left-wing politicking." He then expanded the complaint to encompass all members of Florida's Supreme Court. On Thursday, he formally added Gawker Media to the roster of defendants. The case, consequently, is now John B. Thompson vs. The Florida Bar, R. Fred Lewis, Charles T. Wells, Harry Lee Anstead, Barbara J. Pariente, Peggy A. Quince, Raoul G. Cantero, Kenneth B. Bell, Dava J. Tunis, and Gawker Media.
Kotaku's Crecente has acknowledged the lawsuit.
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